EAGLES COLUMN: Birds address O-Line issues - PennLive.com

PHILADELPHIA – It's good to know the Eagles are paying as close attention to their offensive line struggles as the rest of city.

After much was made of the mishaps that took place on the offensive line in the Eagles 24-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in Thursday's preseason game, the team implemented some changes Saturday that could be a bit more permanent.

Todd Herremans was moved from left guard to right tackle, replacing King Dunlap, who was more of a fill-in while Winston Justice and Ryan Harris dealt with injuries.

Justice's knee has not responded as quickly as the Eagles would have hoped after arthroscopic surgery in February, and has yet to practice in the preseason, although the Eagles continue to say he's close, as they have for about three weeks now.

Harris, who was signed as a free agent after playing with the Denver Broncos last season, suffered a herniated disc soon after signing with the Eagles and will undergo surgery today. The timetable for his return is unknown, but it's not going to be any time soon.

"He's had back surgery before, and we'll just see how that goes," coach Andy Reid said. "He's seen a ton of specialists in the last couple of days, and he just felt that this was the best way to go see exactly what was going on in there."

That means Herremans is probably in for the long haul at tackle.

"For right now it's probably the best move for the team," Herremans said. "It's a little foreign and it's going to take some time. But in a couple of weeks, I'll be ready to rock."

That would suggest there's some permanence to the move, no?

"As far as I know," Herremans said. "We'll see. Those decisions aren't for me to be made."

But the decision was made, and now Herremans will be protecting Michael Vick's blind side, although he doesn't look at it that way.

"He runs around so much that his blind side is everywhere," Herremans said.

That means that the protection is going to have to be improved elsewhere too.

Reid showed patience with his younger lineman and at Saturday's practice rookie Jason Kelce remained the starting center as veteran Jamaal Jackson continued running with the second unit and rookie Danny Watkins held on to his spot, as expected, at right guard.

But, rather than putting Jackson in Herremans' spot at left guard, something Reid said a couple of weeks ago he would look at, the Eagles plugged Evan Mathis into that spot.

Mathis, an unheralded free agent signing by the Eagles, has been in the league for seven seasons playing with Carolina, Miami and Cincinnati.

The move puts veterans on either side of Kelce and Watkins, which the Eagles hope will bring more confidence and calmness to the starting unit.

Another overlooked free agent signing that could pay big dividends for the Eagles is strong safety Jarrad Page.

Page looks to have moved past second-year pro Nate Allen for the starting nod at that position as Allen has been slow to recover from a ruptured patellar tendon suffered last December.

Page, 26, signed a 1-year deal with the Eagles after spending last season with the New England Patriots. He was originally a seventh-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006.

Reid wouldn't go as far as declaring Page his starter – and he had good things to say about Allen, who struggled as the starter against Pittsburgh last week and gave way to Page against Cleveland, playing mostly with the second unit, but did say there is a competition between the two for the starting job.

"I thought Nate did a nice job (against Cleveland)," Reid said. "I thought he did better than he did (against Pittsburgh). Every week you're going to see him get better as he gets his feet under him… But they are competing for that spot."

The latest addition to the injury list was tight end Brent Celek who didn't practice after getting an injection in his hip for what Reid said was inflammation. Celek is expected back at practice in a day or two.